hello there. welcome to "newsline." glad you to join us. it's thursday, september 9th, 8:00 a.m. in tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi. energy giant bp has concluded that the catastrophic gulf oil spill was caused by a linked series of mechanical and human failures involving multiple companies. its report has immediately been met by a backlash. the investigation was conducted by a team of bp and outside experts, and disclosed on wednesday. the report blames eight interlinked findings for the incident or accident including the poor quality of cement used

to contain hydrocarbons at the sea bottom and the rig crew's delay in noticing irregular ates. outgoing bp representative tony hayward says a series of events led to the tragedy. he insisted transocean and others are responsible. transocean immediately issued a comment calling the report a self-serve attempt to conceal the real cause of the explosion that started the disaster. it said bp had made a series of cost-saving decisions that increased the risk of an accident. the accident in april in the gulf of mexico left 11 dead and started a huge oil spill that lasted over three months. u.s. president barack obama has announced an additional $180 billion in economic stimulus measures including massive tax breaks on corporate investment. the announcement comes ahead of u.s. congressional elections in november.

>> hello, everybody. the truth is, progress has been painfully slow. millions of americans remain unemployed. >> in a speech in ohio on wednesday, the u.s. president proposed a special one-time tax exemption for all new capital investments until 2011. his economic measures also include tax credits for corporate research and development expenditures. in addition to $50 billion on infrastructure spending announced earlier, the stimulus package amounts to $180 billion. obama also proposed tax breaks for middle income earners will be made permanent, but observers doubt how quickly obama will be able to implement his package. the opposition republicans are demanding the extension of tax credits for the wealthy as a condition for accepting his proposals. protests are spreading among muslim nations against a florida

church's plan to burn copies of the koran. the burning is planned for saturday to mark the ninth anniversary of the september 11th terrorist attacks on the u.s. the church argues the burning of the sacred book is a warning against muslims who brought about the terrorist attacks. in the afghan capital of kabul, people rallied on monday calling for the u.s. government to prevent the burning. in indonesia, the biggest muslim population in the world, people raised banners in the capital of jakarta on wednesd calling to stop the planned burning. along with muslim nations and the u.s. government, now europe is joining the chorus of criticism. the eu foreign affairs chief, catherine ashton said "the european union respects all kinds of religious beliefs and the florida church's plan is not the right thing to do." the florida church is determined to pursue the plan. protests are expected to become more intense in countries worldwide.

north korea is celebrating the 62nd anniversary of its founding on thursday. it appears to be preparing for the succession of its leader, kim jong-il. military and korean workers parties officials met on wednesday in pyongyang. prime minister choe yong rim stressed the significance of the party's first conference in 44 years scheduled to open this month. kim was absent from the meeting. choe was quoted as saying the entire nation is taking part in efforts to hold the upcoming conference. a new lineup of top party officials is expected to be announced at the conference to facilitate the succession. kim's youngest son, kim jong-un, is seen as the most likely candidate to succeed his father.

attention is focused on whether he will be given a top executive post at the meeting. north korea's state-run media have reported that regional representatives are arriving in pyongyang to take part in the conference, but they haven't reported the exact start date. the mmander of the u.s. pacific fleet says he is wary of north korea's moves toward the eventual transfer of power from leader kim jong-il to one of his sons. admiral patrick walsh told reporters in tokyo on wednesday that the u.s. navy should expect instability with any sort of succession planned by the north. >> history has proven that in the case of dealing with succession in north korea that it is an unstable period. we should be alert to that and then we should have our forces ready for any sort of incidents. >> he also suggested that the u.s. and south korean militaries will need to reschedule a joint anti-submarine drill in the yellow sea. the drill, which was scheduled to begin on sunday, has been

delayed due to an approaching tropical storm. the u.s. government will send its special envoy on north korean issues to south korea, japan, and china next week. stephen bosworth will visit seoul, tokyo and beijing in that order between sunday and thursday. u.s. assistant secretary of state philip crowley announced the trip on tuesday. the visit comes in advance of the likely meeting of deputies of the ruling workers party to pave the way for the eventual transfer of power in north korea. the u.s. is also expected to take up the issue of a resumption of the six-party talks with the three countries as china, which acts as the chair, has been pushing the five other members to restart the talks. crowley suggested, however, that bosworth's trip will not necessarily result in the immediate resumption of the talks. >> we will continue our consultations with the key

parties in this process but i would suggest, as we have in the past, that it's north korea that needs to do what it can to create a better environment for our progress. the japan coast guard is questioning the captain of a chinese fishing boat who is suspected of atempting to obstruct an inspection in japanese er territorial wate. the coast guard says the captain admitted its boat hit its patrol ships. coast guard officials arrested the 41-year-old chinese captain on wednesday morning. they say the collision involving his trawler happened on tuesday off the senkaku islands in the east china sea. the coast guard says the trawler was operating in japanese waters. it also says the fishing boat ignored a warning to stop and collided with two patrol ships as it fled. the fishing boat eventually stopped outside japanese waters. coast guard officials boarded it to question the crew.

investigators are asking the captain about his motives. they believe he intentionally rammed his boat into the patrol ships to obstruct the inspection. the senkaku islands are claimed by japan, china and taiwan. chinese fishing boats are frequently seen in japan's exclusive economic zone near the islands, and the coast guard repeatedly calls on them to halt operations. japan's foreign ministry spoke about the incident on wednesday in tokyo. press secretary sato rusato reiterated japan's claimn the senkaku islands. >> translator: this incident obstructed the duties of the japan coast guard within japanese territorial waters. we'll handle the matter calmly and in accordance with japanese law. >> the press secretary added that the incident will not hurt

bilateral relations. he said developing strategic ties that benefit both nations is important. now we go over to nhk world's susumo shimokawa in beijing to hear about china's reaction to this in the east china sea. >> well the ship collision casing the waters near the senkaku islands has been headline news here in china. wednesday morning newspapers carry the incident as their top story. some use photos and illustrations and illustrations to explain how they believe the incident took place and some of their reports differed from japan's account of how the collision happened, saying the japanese patrol ship actually hit the chinese fishing boat. well, meanwhile the chinese foreign ministry summoned the japanese ambassador to china, uichiro niwa on wednesday. in the meeting chinese assistant foreign minister reported

opposition to the arrest of the chinese captain and called for his early release. niwa said japan could not accept the request. also on wednesday a group of chinese demonstrators protested against the arrest of the captain outside the japanese embassy in beijing. about 40 members of a private group that supports china's claim to the senkaku islands in the east china sea held a rally for about 30 minutes. they waved chinese flags and banners urging japan to get out of the islands. then they delivered a letter to the embassy. about 40 chinese police officers were deployed around the embassy but no serious incidents took place. so far the chinese media have not mentioned the beijing demonstration. they are focusing instead on china's pro test to the chinese

government. it takes the incident seriously but at the same time it appears to be eager to prevent an untimely japan backlash in the country. back to you. >> thanks very much, that was nhk world's susumu shimokawa in beijing. australia has finally resolved its political vacuum more than two weeks after the inclusive election. prime minister julia gillard retains power but she faces difficult challenges ahead. >> thank you. can i say we live in a lively and resilient democracy and it works. we will be held to higher standards of transparency and reform, and it's in that spirit that i approach the task of forming a government.

>> gillard secured support from three independent and one green lawmakers to form a thin majority in the hung parliament. gillard's labor party lost its majority in the august 21st vote, despite a robust economy. now, there are concerns australia may be headed toward a political instability. our reporter yuko aotani earlier spoke with an australian expert in melbourne. >> thank you very much for joining us, dr. alan moran. >> pleased to be with you. >> julia gillard in her speech has mentioned that her purpose was to serve the australian people, of which half of them actually voted against her. how will the gillard administration unify the nation now? >> i don't think it will unify the nation. that isn't to say that it won't manage to govern the next three years with the support that it does have for non-labor party people. >> are the australians happy with the results? >> i don't think anybody's

reallyappy with the results. the issue is that the -- there is a workable government right now. the four independents supporting the government are somewhat more radical in some respects than the government might expect them to be. two of them you would categorize as probably left wing, perhaps even very left wing, and two of them you would categorize as energetic country independents who have broad agendas, try to redirect fding and privileges to their constituents in the country areas. >> so you're saying that the government is going to have a hard time? >> well, will it be an easy alliance? nobody i think is saying it will be anything other than that. but certainly, it will be difficult to get any legislation of a radical nature through until the middle of next year and perhaps will be difficult thereafter also.

>> now, australia has so far had a strong economy based on its rich resoues, low employment will the new government be able to keep that up? >> well, it's really being kept up and being maintained as a result of international trade factors. certainly, australia is very strong as a resource nation, resource exporter, and the continued buoyancy of the chinese economy has really bankrolled the australian economy these last two or three years. in fact, for longer than that. and as long as the chinese economy does stay quite strong or resilnt, and certainly over the medium term, the prospects of the australian economy are also quite good. >> so the government has nothing to do with the economy? >> well, not a great deal. i mean, the governments can certainly wreck economies, but as long as they don't do anything really radical, we're a relatively small economy.

>> in the meantime, what comes next? when will the government be able to come down with a full line of the cabinet members and get down to business? >> oh, i think pretty soon. i an, there'onlyne iue i think at's exercising the mind of a lot of people, that is the role for former prime minister kevin rudd, and clearly she's thinking about that. she may feel she has to give him foreign affairs, probably didn't want to give him that but she may feel as though she has to. whether that will prove to be a bonus or damaging is to be seen. >> all right. well, thank you very much. we have to end it there. thanks very much. that was dr. alan moran, economist at institute of public affairs in melbourne. >> you're welcome. over 1 million iraqis live with disabilities caused by the u.s. attack or the terrorist

attacks that followed. many of the disabled say they have given up hope for their future. but you're about to meet an inspiring, young woman who regained her will to carry on despite a dreadful loss. now she gives courage to others. nhk world's marwan marai rafik reports. >> reporter: they compete as a professional wheelchair tennis player. the 21-year-old tennis athlete practices with players three times a week without fail. >> translator: wheelchair tennis is one of the most physically demanding sports for people with disabilities. but that also makes it a very rewarding challenge. >> reporter: when she's not playing tennis, she wears artificial legs. she lost both her real legs four years ago.

an american shell missed its target and landed directly on her house. >> translator: i was standing here and all of a sudden my back got really hot. i don't remember anything after that. >> reporter: the blast killed her two older sisters. though she survived, the shock of losing her sisters and her legs became too much to bear. she became speechless. she didn't leave the house for days. >> translator: every time i woke up, i realized that it wasn't a dream, and that it had really happened. >> reporter: the american shell destroyed her life, but she

still keeps a memento of the tragedy. >> translator: i don't know why i kept it, this hideous thing destroyed my life, but at the same time as gruesome as it is, i think it gives me the courage to face reality. and carry on. >> reporter: a female wheelchair fencing athlete gave her the strength to move on with her life. she told zehnab that the things she lost will never come back, but only you can change your life. the words moved zehnab deeply. before her misfortune, zehnab had never played sports seriously before, but she started to play wheelchair tennis in an effort to restart her life.

>> translator: my daughter has started to become more positive since she started playing tennis. she looks happier at home. i can't tell you how relieved i am. >> reporter: on this day, a new wheelchair tennis championship takes place in baghdad. players have gathered from across the yard. zainab wins first prize. zainab says that she played teis so she can give courage to other iraqis to overcome their hardships. >> translator: my dream is to become the number one tennis player in the world. i want other iraqis to know that you can realize your dream even if you have lost everything.

>> very courageous woman there. zainab has been chose on it represent iraq in a world wheelchair tennis tournament this october in turkey. we wish her the best of luck. and now let's take a look at the market figures.

hi there. welcome to your world weather update. well, tropical storm malou made its way across central japan causing quite a bit of havoc here, severe flooding, mudslides and damages followed. the storm system is over the pacific now as a tropical depression, still looking quite gusty along the east coast here but generally looking much, much calmer, quite a bit of cloud around but good spells of sunshine. now over towards southeastern china we also are seeing this new, well it's a storm system that's been with us for awhile, tropical depression that is actually showing signs of intensifying and it's been

drenching taiwan and the northern luzon of the philippines the past couple of days, threatening the area with flooding and landslides, and it looks like the system could become a tropical storm tonight before making its way to fujian of china. already bringing showers in hong kong, 32 degrees in hong kong today. thundershowers in taipei as well, 32 here, and looking much, much cooler up in seoul, 22 for your daytime high. now let's head to north america, drenching downpours continue to affect texas, flooding was reported in some of the parts of texas, and again we're seeing these remnants of hermine which continue to really pound the southern areas here from texas, oklahoma, even up into the lower midwest as well, so we've got flood warnings in place for a wide area. a separate system to the northeast is making its way into eastern canada. we've got drenching downpours forecast for you. it's going to be quite windy out

here and also the cold air ushering from the north will be dropping temperatures dramatically up in the northeastern corner. looking quite chilly and windy as well out towards the west. we do have red flag warnings in place across the central rockies, and then this low pressure system moving through is going to be dumping lots of rain, it's looking quite severe as well as that storm system heads into the northern plains. let's take a look at the temperatures then, 18 degrees in vancouver today, 20 in winnipeg. 24 in new york, but staying very hot down in the south, 34 degrees in houston. now a new storm system has formed over the atlantic, it's tropical depression igor making its way through the cape verde islands, bringing quite stormy continues here. it will be moving away eventually, moving fairly slowly at 9 kilometers per hour, and due to become a hurricane by the weekend, so we will keep you updated on this progress here.

now finally looking at europe, wet and windy conditions continue in central europe, quite windy across germany and lots of thunderstorms expected to move across the alpine region into the balkans next. over towards the north, high pressure system really continues to dominate the region, so here it stays sunny and generally settled. a couple of showers working their way through the british isles, looking quite calm right now but there is that new rain band coming in from the atlantic and that's going to be soaking the region once again, starting tonight, bringing windy weather with it as well. 21 degrees in london today, and 21 in paris. here is the extended forecast.

just taking a look at our top stories again. energy giant bp has concluded that the catastrophic gulf oil spill was caused by a linked sies mechanicaand human failur involving multiple companies. its report has immediately been met by a backlash. the investigation was conducted by a team of bp and outside experts, and disclosed on wednesday.

the report blames eight interlinked findings for the accident, including the poor quality of cement used to contain hydrocarbons at the sea bottom and the rig crew's delay in noticing irregular lairities. bp's outgoing chief executive tony hayward said a series of complex events led to the tragedy. he insisted that the swiss drilling company transocean and others are also responsible. transocean immediately issued a comment calling the report a "self-serving attempt to conceal the real calls of the explosion that started the disaster." it said bp had made a series of cost-saving decisions that increased the risk of an accident. the accident in april in the gulf of mexico left 11 dead and started a huge oil spill that lasted over three months. japanese researchers say permafrost around the summitf mt. fuji is shrinking rapidly, possibly due to global warming.

professor takehiro masuzawa of shizuoka university and his colleagues at the national institute of polar research recently released the results of their year-round survey of the iconic mountain. the group found that a 300-meter strip of permafrost has been lost over the past ten years. the report says that in 1998, frozen earth on the mountain's south slope extended down from the summit at 3,776 meters above sea level to an elevation of 3,300 meters, but this area is shrinking. and that wraps up this hedih heedition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. we'll be up at the top of the

next hour for more updates. do join us then.